İTÜ Seed Pre-Incubation Center Places in Top 3 of Entrepreneurship

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İTÜ | Feb 26, 2018

İTÜ Çekirdek, was selected 2nd best in Europe and third best in the world by the international UBI Global index...

İTÜ Çekirdek, was selected 2nd best in Europe and third best in the world by the international UBI Global index, which compares and ranks the entrepreneurship incubation centers of the leading universities in the world.

As the world waited with great eagerness, the international UBI Global index, which compares and ranks the entrepreneurship incubation centers of leading universities was unveiled. İTÜ Çekirdek was selected by the UBI Global index as the second best in Europe and third best in the world in the category of "university affiliated incubators." İTÜ Çekirdek, operating for 6 years under the Istanbul Technical University ARI Teknokent umbrella, is one of Turkey's most important entrepreneurship programs with entrepreneurs who participated having received investments in excess of 50 million TL so far has thus achieved another important success.

İTÜ ARI Teknokent Chairman and Rector of İTÜ, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karaca, speaking about the UBI Global results said, "İTÜ Çekirdek, competing with the incubation centers of the world's leading universities, has brought big success in representing our country and has placed 2nd in Europe and 3rd in the world. İTÜ Çekirdek uses a unique form of business modelling, methods and content, as used in the leading universities and entrepreneurship centers of the world, at the core of which we are in compliance with local conditions and needs, and we are continually improving in this regard. Entrepreneurs who are admitted to İTÜ Çekirdek are provided with support for investment, sales, mentoring and networking areas such as an open office, entrepreneurship training, infrastructure support, as well as opportunities to meet with more than 250 volunteer mentors and investor meetings. In the past six years, we have supported 1,150 enterprises and 3,450 entrepreneurs throughout the country. This number is increasing day by day. During this period, our entrepreneurs received more than 50 million TL in investments. I congratulate all of our entrepreneurs, investors and stakeholders who have contributed to İTÜ Çekirdek’s success.”

The right address for entrepreneurs: İTÜ Çekirdek

İTÜ Çekirdek has technological and innovative business ideas and is the right address for all entrepreneurs and start-ups who believe that ideas can be transformed into innovative and commercial activity; applications can be made to several technological fields including automotive, fintech, insurtech, healthcare, and IoT platforms. Entrepreneurs who apply to İTÜ Çekirdek are expected to have a commercial idea or product. More than 300 companies have successfully commercialized through İTÜ Çekirdek and started their business. More than 40 of İTÜ Çekirdek’s stakeholders including the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, Automotive Exporters' Association, ING Bank, Enerjisa, Pegasus, TTGV, Hepsiburada.com, CARDTEK, Monitise and the Elginkan Foundation are waiting to provide support to entrepreneurs for the future of Turkey.

Entrepreneurs of all ages, who have a venture that can turn into technology-based products and services, are invited to complete the application through www.itucekirdek.com and register to participate in İTÜ Çekirdek.

UBI Global, a Swedish-based research organization, aims to improve incubation centers, identify best practices and develop business networks among them. UBI Global, which has more than 500 member organization networks in more than 70 countries globally, compares incubation programs, and provides benchmarking and other research services for them.

There are several evaluation criteria including number of applications received by the incubator, operational budget, mentors, sponsor and instructor pool, training given to entrepreneurs, mentoring volume, the number of successful entrepreneurs from the center, employment created by the entrepreneurs, and investment and turnover.

About İTÜ Çekirdek

Since 2012, İTÜ Çekirdek has supported 1,150 enterprises and 3,450 entrepreneurs. The total value of enterprises that have received more than 50 million TL in investments exceeds 415 million TL. In just six years, İTÜ Çekirdek, which provided success and support for hundreds of enterprises, has created employment for more than 500 people. İTÜ Çekirdek, which receives thousands of applications every year, continues to add value to the entrepreneurial ecosystem with its ever-increasing number of stakeholders.